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Ever watched a bird swoop through the air, effortlessly twisting and turning, and wondered: why can’t planes do that? For years, scientists have been trying to answer this question, particularly around one peculiar design choice in airplanes: the vertical tailfin. This stabiliser is crucial for steady flight, yet it adds weight and drag. Without it, planes would be far more fuel-efficient. So why hasn’t aviation cracked this bird-like mystery yet?<br /><br />Turns out, the key to solving this conundrum may have been hiding in plain sight — or, more accurately, in a pigeon’s feathers.<br /><h2>A robot with real feathers</h2><keyword id="24084142" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PigeonBot-II" source="keywords">PigeonBot II</keyword> is a robotic bird built by David Lentink, Professor of <keyword id="24084143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="biomimetics" source="keywords">Biomimetics</keyword> at the University of Groningen, and his team. Unlike your average flying robot, this one isn’t just inspired by nature — it’s decked out with real pigeon feathers and mimics how birds adjust their wings and tails mid-flight.<br /><div type="twitter" handle="TechXplore_com" handlename="TechXplore_com" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1859395008643690626"></div>Using nine servo motors and a clever algorithm, PigeonBot II reflexively reshapes its wings and tail, just like real birds. These adaptive movements provide stabilisation without the need for a vertical fin, demonstrating a feat of engineering once thought impossible.<br /><br />Back in 1929, German scientist Franz Groebbels suggested that birds fly like "automatic airplanes," stabilising themselves without external controls. Nearly a century later, Lentink’s PigeonBot II has finally proven him right. The robot not only aced wind tunnel tests but also soared autonomously in the open air, its feathers responding seamlessly to every gust and tilt.<br /><h2>From feathered flights to fighter jets</h2>What does this mean for aviation? First off, PigeonBot II opens the door to fuel-efficient airplanes. By ditching the vertical fin and adopting bird-inspired stabilisation, planes could save energy and reduce emissions — great news for eco-conscious travelers.<br /><br />But there’s another exciting twist: stealthier fighter jets. A plane without a vertical tailfin has a smaller radar signature, making it harder to detect. Imagine jet fighters gliding invisibly, twisting and turning like birds of prey in the sky.<br /><br />The European Airbus group has already envisioned this kind of tailfin-less aircraft, and Lentink’s work provides the scientific foundation to make it a reality.<br /><h2>Why feathers make the difference</h2>What makes bird wings so special? Lentink’s earlier research showed that feathers aren’t just decorative — they play an active role in flight. Birds use their feathers to adjust wing shape in real time, a skill PigeonBot II replicates. Unlike rigid airplane wings, <keyword id="24084146" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="feathered-wings" source="keywords">feathered wings</keyword> offer flexibility and reflexive movement, adapting to turbulence and maintaining balance. It’s nature’s version of a high-tech stabilisation system, honed over millions of years of evolution.<br /><br />While we’re not quite at the stage of boarding feathered jumbo jets, PigeonBot II is a big step forward. From greener commercial planes to stealthier fighter jets, this quirky little robot could redefine the future of flight.<br /><br />The findings of this research have been published in <em>Science <keyword id="62549" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="robotics" source="Orion">Robotics</keyword> </em>and can be accessed <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.ado4535">here</a>.<br />

Scientists have devised a robot that flies like a bird using real feathers — could this be the future of fighter jets?

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia unveiled a combat surveillance drone that looks like a really tired snowy owl at an annual military expo in Moscow, The Moscow Times reported Tuesday.</li><li>The unmanned aerial vehicle, which is designed to be difficult to detect, can track enemy assets and is equipped with a laser that gives it the ability to direct Russian fire to specific positions.</li><li>Many countries have been experimenting with biomimetic drone designs in recent years because of their unique ability to hide in plain sight.</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>Russia has developed a new combat surveillance drone disguised as a bird of prey, in this case an owl, The Moscow Times reported Tuesday.</p><p>The drone, a Technopolis Era project resembling a snowy owl choking on a mouthful of electronic equipment, appeared at the <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">defense</keyword> ministry's annual military expo. The unmanned aerial vehicle is reportedly equipped with a laser that gives it the ability to guide artillery and laser-guided bombs.</p><p>Weighing only 5 kilograms, it can be carried and launched by one person, the developers <a href="https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6588505">told</a> TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency. The company has also developed a falcon drone. It is said to be able to fly for up to 40 minutes and cover distances up to 20 kilometers, or 12 miles.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p>Creating drones that look like birds is a concept Russian unmanned aerial systems developers have been looking closely at for a while. The <span>Zhukovsky-Gagarin Air Force Academy, for instance, presented a owl-shaped design last year.</span></p><p><span>"What's interesting is that Russian designers are thinking creatively about UAV applications," Samuel Bendett, a research analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses, <a href="https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2018/10/29/new-russian-owl-drone-will-hunt-tanks-in-northern-warfare/">told</a> C4ISRNET at the time, explaining, "Biomimicry allows UAVs to operate in areas where a 'regular'-looking UAV would have been sighted and eliminated."</span></p><p><span>"In Russia's part of Eurasia where hunting birds like owls, falcons and eagles are very common, a UAV that looks like a bird can become an invaluable ISR asset," he added. "It can basically 'hide' in plain sight." Up close, it is easy to see that the drone is, in fact, a machine, but at a distance, it becomes much harder to tell it apart from a bird in flight.</span></p><p><span>The stated purpose of the design showcased last year was to track tanks and other vehicles and then direct fire to those positions.</span></p><p><span>Drones with biomimetic designs, while strange, are not all that new. </span></p><p><span>A few years ago, a crude drone resembling a bird and believed to be the property of the Somali government <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a21873/crashed-drone-low-tech-bird-camo/">crashed</a> in Mogadishu. Robotic birds have been <a href="https://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/bird-scaring-robird-drone-tested-canadian-airport">tested</a> in Canada to scare birds away from airports. And China has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-is-testing-creepy-dove-drones-to-monitor-citizens-2018-6">designed</a> recon drones that fly, move, and look like doves for domestic surveillance operations.</span></p><p class="tagline"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/drones-101?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=drone&amp;itm_campaign=drones-101"></a></p><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-american-men-suck-soccer-world-cup-2018-6">The US women's national team dominates soccer, but here's why the US men's team sucks</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Russia's new drone looks like a snowy owl, and it has a deadly purpose

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The diabolical ironclad beetle can withstand forces up to 39,000 times its body weight.</li><li>They can do that, researchers discovered, thanks to hardened casings on each wing that interlock and support the beetle's exoskeleton.</li><li>By mimicking the interlocking nature of these protective layers, scientists could build better planes and armored vehicles. </li></ul><p>Imagine a 200-pound man being crushed by the weight of nearly <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/584722main_Wings-ch3a-pgs53-73.pdf">two space shuttles</a> and coming out unscathed. That's about how indestructible the diabolical ironclad beetle is.</p><p>The 1-inch-long insect's exoskeleton is capable of withstanding forces up to 39,000 times its body weight. Entomologists who try to mount these <keyword id="240108" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Beetles">beetles</keyword> for display usually wind up with their steel pins bent or snapped in half.</p><p>In <a href="https://press.nature.com/toughening-mechanisms-of-the-elytra-of-the-diabolical-ironclad-b/18411476">a study</a> published Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists revealed the secrets of this beetle's stab-proof and smash-proof body. An analysis of the beetles' elytra — the hardened casings on top of each forewing — shows that the shields interlock like a 3D jigsaw puzzle and can deform under enormous weight without losing their shape.</p><p>Those elytra also fit together with the rest of the beetle's exoskeleton like a suit of <keyword id="261383" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Armor">armor</keyword>, making it impervious to crushing forces.</p><p>These insights could have applications for improvements to the design of aircraft and armored vehicles.</p><h2>This beetle can get run over by a Toyota Camry and survive</h2><p>Whereas most beetles live for weeks or months, diabolical ironclad beetles typically live for two years, mostly in oak trees on the Pacific coast of North America. They can't fly away from danger, which may explain why they developed an exoskeleton that protects them from birds' stabbing beaks and crushing blows.</p><p>The researchers behind the study tested how much force the beetle, known as Phloeodes diabolicus, could take without getting squished. The answer: 149 newtons, which means the insect can get stomped on or run over by a car and survive.</p><div type="image" title="2020_Toyota_Camry_SE_Hybrid_04_EB24C5DC5826E6AD4845374B7E8B8236420CD14B 1500x1001" height="1335" width="2000" msid="78819017" hostid="261"></div><p>"We heard from folklore that you could run them over with a car or step on them, and they don't die. And, of course, we had to try that. So we took a old Toyota Camry and put the diabolical on the ground and ran it over, and it survived," David Kisalius, the lead author of the study, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/926329330/study-of-diabolical-ironclad-beetles-exoskeleton-could-help-improve-aircraft#:~:text=SHAPIRO%3A%20Kisailus%20says%20what%20sets,no%20longer%20able%20to%20fly.">told NPR</a>. </p><h2>An exoskeleton that locks together like a jigsaw puzzle</h2><p>Kisalius's group also investigated the beetle's exoskeleton closely using electron microscopes and CT scans. The secret to the beetle's resilience, they found, are a variety of joints that lock pieces of its exoskeleton together.</p><p>Imagine the insect's exoskeleton as two halves of a pistachio shell protecting the soft bits inside. The hardened elytra ensconcing its wings are the top half of the shell, and they connect to the underbelly of the beetle's exoskeleton to make one overall suit of armor. </p><p>But the various parts of the armor are are joined together in different ways. The researchers found three different types of connections, called lateral supports, between the top and bottom halves of the beetle's exoskeleton.  </p><p>Each support serves a different purpose in protecting the beetle. </p><p>"The strong and stiff interdigitated supports are used to protect the beetle's vital organs from being crushed," Po-Yun Chen, a materials scientist from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan who wrote an <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02840-1">accompanying Nature article</a> about the findings, told Business Insider. "Whereas the compliant latching and free-standing supports allow deformation of the exoskeleton, so that the beetle can squeeze into crevices in rocks or tree bark."</p><p>That variation in joint type "is absent in other beetles, which have only interdigitated supports throughout their bodies," according to Chen.</p><p>However, cockroaches also have the ability to change their shape to fit into and move within tight spaces, he said. </p><div type="image" title="cockroach" height="1414" width="2121" msid="78819018" hostid="261"></div><h2>Insights from this beetle could help us build better vehicles</h2><p>The researchers discovered that the beetle's elytra, too, are made of pieces that interlock. On top of its wings, they found a rigid joint called a suture that fuses the elytra together like two 3D puzzle pieces nestled together, as shown below.</p><div type="image" title="ironclad beetle" height="769" width="1160" msid="78819019" hostid="261"></div><p>The interlocking pieces of that suture, called blades, have multiple layers. As the scientists increased the forces on the beetle, those blades broke layer-by-layer, which prevented the suture from snapping all together.</p><p>Learning how to mimic those multilayered blades could help engineers design better ways of joining materials. By using the beetles' blades as an inspiration, for example, scientists could create tougher joining materials that won't fracture apart unpredictably, Chen said. Or perhaps they could use the design to keep joints from degrading way that the adhesives, bolts, and pins used in aircraft do.</p><p>"When you bring two metals together, it's usually the joints that fails," Aura Gimm, a program officer with the US Air Force office of scientific research, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/926329330/study-of-diabolical-ironclad-beetles-exoskeleton-could-help-improve-aircraft#:~:text=SHAPIRO%3A%20Kisailus%20says%20what%20sets,no%20longer%20able%20to%20fly.">told NPR</a>.</p><p>The new research, in fact, is part of an <a href="https://muri.ucr.edu/">$8 million project</a> funded by Gimm's office that looks to create new impact-resistant technologies that mimic the natural armor of <keyword id="6371668" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="animals">animals</keyword>.</p><div type="image" title="Army armored vehicles" height="933" width="1400" msid="78819020" hostid="261"></div><p>Chen said the different types of supports the study authors observed on the beetle could be incorporated into armored vehicles, too.</p><p>Some of that biomimetic design is already happening.</p><p>In 2016, US defense contractor <a href="https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/ironclad-beetles-inspire-new--memory--metal-suspension-for-military-vehicles">BAE Systems announced</a> a new type of bendable suspension system inspired by the diabolical ironclad beetle, which could allow military vehicles to weather landmine explosions unscathed.</p>

Diabolical ironclad beetles can get squished under 39,000 times their weight and survive. Scientists figured out how.

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Researchers have built tiny microdrones capable of tugging open a door 40 times their weight.</strong></li><li><strong>They took inspiration from predatory wasps, which can drag large prey along the ground.</strong></li><li><strong>One researcher said the technology could be adapted for more complex tasks such as moving debris or retrieving objects from disaster zones.</strong></li></ul><p>Researchers have built microdrones, capable of tugging open a door 40 times their weight, by studying the biology of predatory wasps.</p><p>Robotics researchers at Stanford University and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland wanted to find a way for tiny microdrones to exert "forceful tugging," so they turned to biomimetics - meaning they took inspiration from the natural world.</p><p>They observed that wasps are able to carry away large prey by dragging it along the ground. They used this behaviour as a model when creating tiny micro<span>drones, which they named "FlyCroTugs."</span></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The drones are equipped with cables and winches, and can attach the cable to an object and then anchor themselves to the ground before starting to spool the cable towards themselves.</p><p>Using this technology, two FlyCroTugs, each weighing 100 grams, were able to open a door 40 times their mass.</p><p><strong>You can watch the microdrones opening the door here:</strong></p><p>Part of the FlyCroTug's design took its cue from another animal. Famous for clinging to walls with their sticky feet, the gecko lizard provided inspiration for the drones' adhesive.</p><p>"Teams of these drones could work cooperatively to perform more complex manipulation tasks," Stanford researcher Matt Estrada <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/tiny-drones-team-up-to-open-doors">told IEEE Spectrum</a>, a magazine dedicated to engineering and applied sciences.</p><p>"We demonstrated opening a door, but this approach could be extended to turning a ball valve, moving a piece of debris, or retrieving an object of interest from a disaster zone."</p><p>There are still a few hurdles to overcome before the tiny drones could be used in the field. At the moment their battery only lasts for five minutes. The FlyCroTug also requires a human to pilot it, as the researchers have yet to develop any sensing or AI systems for it.</p><p>You can read the researchers' <a href="http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/3/23/eaau6903">full paper on building the FlyCroTug drone here</a>.</p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-go-open-3000-automated-stores-2018-9">Why Amazon reportedly wants to open 3,000 automated stores</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

These tiny wasp-inspired drones can open a door 40 times their weight, and could one day be used in disaster zones

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>From fields of grass to cracks in the wall, there's almost nowhere you won't find cockroaches.</p><p>Now, scientists have created a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/swarms-of-cyborg-roaches-could-be-used-to-find-disaster-survivors-2015-3">roach-inspired robot</a> with a rounded shell, which was able to clamber through tall, grass-like obstacles that would trip other bots up.</p><p>These roachlike robots, described in a study published Monday, June 22, in the journal <em><a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-3190/10/4/046003">Bioinspiration &amp; Biomimetics</a>,</em> could be used for everything from environmental monitoring to search-and-rescue efforts, scientists say.</p><p>Many existing robots are designed to work on flat surfaces with few obstacles. But in nature, cockroaches and other small animals often have to navigate environments littered with grass, shrubs and trees. To navigate these obstacles, the insects use "a form of natural parkour," the researchers wrote in the s<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">tudy. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Yes. Cockroach parkour.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Since they can't use the adept moves of tiny insects, large, sophisticated robots - like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/darpa-funded-cheetah-robot-can-now-jump-over-obstacles-2015-6"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">MIT's Cheetah robot</span></a> and the military's Wildcat robot -</span> use laser sensors and computers to map out their environment and plan a path around obstacles.</p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">To test this idea, they had to do two things: </span></span></p><p><strong><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">1) Observe actual cockroaches. </span></span></strong></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">In</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> the study, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Chen Li, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> and her team placed some forest-floor-dwelling discoid </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cockroaches-disease-carriers-nuclear-attack-2013-11">cockroaches</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> (</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Blaberus discoidalis</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">) in an obstacle course containing a tall, flexible material that resembled grass, and filmed them. </span>In order to make <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">small robots as maneuverable as these larger ones, the researchers wondered if they could just model the cockroaches' streamlined body shape.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">To get through the obstacles, which included gaps half their width, the insects would roll their bodies.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"></span><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">2) See how the insects would function with differently-shaped shells.</span></strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Next, Li and her team glued artificial shells - which were alternately either shaped like a roach's rounded oval body, a flattened oval, or a flattened rectangle - onto the insects' backs. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">With the flat oval and square shells, the insects had trouble making it through the fake grass.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Then the researchers glued these shells onto a rectangular, six-legged robot called the VelociRoACH. With the rounded oval shell, the bot was now able to roll its way through the grassy obstacles with ease.</span></p><p>"We showed that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-bug-off-scientists-devise-family-tree-of-worlds-insects-2014-11">forest-dwelling cockroachs</a>' rounded body shape allows them to roll their body to traverse dense obstacles like grass," Li wrote.</p><p>"Simply by adding a shell of similar shape, our robot showed a similar behavior to a cockroach in going through densely cluttered obstacles."</p><p><span>The researchers named this technique "terradynamic streamlining," because the roach's body shape is analogous to the streamlined shape of many birds and fish, as well as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-supersonic-plane-rotates-mid-air-and-looks-like-a-ninja-star-2012-8">airplanes</a> and submarines.</span></p><p>Robots that mimic this type of shape could be useful for navigating cluttered environments, the scientists concluded.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/darpa-funded-cheetah-robot-can-now-jump-over-obstacles-2015-6">MIT reveals how its military-funded Cheetah robot can now jump over obstacles on its own</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1kcTVodTqokvsyjUub66KVxes0uCDiOI" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This cockroach-inspired robot uses 'parkour' moves to sneak through obstacles

<p>Biomimetics.</p><p>That's the field dedicated to imitating aspects of nature to better understand, and potentially solve, complex human issues.</p><p>It's the reason why so many engineers and researchers are creating robot models of animals.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Robotic animals can help researchers better understand locomotion, evolution, and simply how certain animals accomplish the amazingly unique tasks that they do.</p><p>But they can also have tangible applications, from scouting for danger for the marines to aiding in search and rescue missions.</p><p>Here's a round-up of 11 robots whose designs were inspired by animals and what they can do:</p>

There's a good reason why the next generation of robots will look like animals

<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span>A lot of people moan about how wind turbines make the countryside look bad. Clean, renewable energy often comes at a price. Enter "turbine trees" - one company's way of tackling the issue of aesthetics in sustainability.&#xa0;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.arbre-a-vent.fr/Arbre-vent_31.html">Designer NewWind R&amp;D has created</a> a "silent" turbine called the Tree Vent that is supposed to blend into the landscapes which house it. It's a 36ft-tall structure made of steel with 72 artificial leaves.</p>
<p>It's the leaves that produce the power - just like the photosynthesis of plants. <a href="http://www.arbre-a-vent.fr/L-aeroleaf_36.html">Each one is a "L'Aeroleaf"</a>, a mini turbine attached to the main structure that features an integrated generator. NewWind says the cables and electronics lie inside the leaves, and the technology is specially created to handle the most extreme weather. They're not restricted to "trees" either - there are developments to see them fitted to garden fences, balconies, and other structures.&#xa0;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p>
<p>The Tree Vent itself takes advantage of lower air flow, says NewWind, but can make use of all "types of wind, 360-degree turbulent or laminar". (Turbulent wind is swirling and chaotic; laminar is streamlined and layered).&#xa0;</p>
<p>Importantly, unlike regular wind turbines, these have towns and cities in mind too. Because they're made to look "organic", they can be installed in urban environments and actually brighten places up.&#xa0;</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></p>
<p>"The design of biomimetic inspiration allows seamless integration into all types of landscape, whether urban or rural," NewWind writes on its website. "All the technology is invisible; no cables or apparent generators. Everything is integrated into the branches and trunks."&#xa0;</p>
<p>The organisation adds: "By combining a large number of micro-turbines in an organic form, the Tree Vent is able to exploit any kinetic energy and accumulate Watts."&#xa0;</p>
<p>Each Tree Vent is able to produce 3.1KW, <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wind-technology/beautiful-wind-turbine-trees-generate-clean-energy-urban-environments.html">Tree Hugger explains</a>. That's not a huge amount, but could be harnessed to power city street lights, or in a group, power buildings.</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></p>
<p>Tree Hugger says the Tree Vent is the idea of French entrepreneur Jerome Michaud-Laviere, who noticed the way the wind rustled the leaves on the trees. He saw them being lifted and spun around and thought an energy device could do the same to generate energy.&#xa0;</p>
<p>Now, the technology is going to be installed - or planted, perhaps - for the first time. <a href="http://www.arbre-a-vent.fr/Paris-accueille-arbre-vent_fiche_73.html">New Wind has announced that on May 12, one of the turbines will be placed at the Place de la Concorde in Paris as a public demonstration.</a> The idea is to show people that renewable energy doesn't have to look bad.&#xa0;</p>

These New Wind Turbines Are Designed To Look Like Trees

<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Vancouver Film School/flickr</span></p><p class="caption">High levels of interpersonal conflict can hurt a team's chances of success.</p></div><p></p></div></div>A few weeks ago, The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html">published an in-depth look</a> at some arguably brutal work practices at Amazon, including intense competition between coworkers.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">For example, the "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-reportedly-slam-each-other-through-this-internal-review-tool-2015-8">Anytime Feedback Tool</a>" is an internal platform that allows workers to submit reviews of their colleagues' performance to their managers. Employees who spoke to The Times said the tool had been used to undermine coworkers.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Association for Psychological <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> recently <a href="http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/minds-business/amazons-mistake-mixing-conflict-with-animosity.html">drew a connection</a> between a recent psychological study and the potentially problematic culture at Amazon.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">According to the <a href="http://jom.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/04/13/0149206315581662">study</a>, led by University of Calgary psychology researcher Thomas O'Neill, certain kinds of team conflict, like sharing different opinions, can be beneficial. But other types of conflict, like interpersonal discord, can be destructive.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In other words, APS suggests, businesses like Amazon may be hampering innovation and productivity by causing employees to fear each other. (The study itself doesn't specifically mention Amazon.)</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In one of two experiments included in the study, researchers looked at 577 engineering students at a large Canadian university. The students were organized into 195 design teams consisting of three, four, or five members. Each team was tasked with constructing a sailboat, a race car, a biomimetic design, and a video game.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Two weeks before the last day of class, the researchers asked students to complete surveys that measured different types of conflict. Specifically, the researchers were interested in task conflict (differences in opinions and views about the task); relationship conflict (friction and personality clashes); and process conflict (disagreement about plans for execution).</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Researchers also evaluated the quality of the students' design proposals and how confident the students felt in their team's ability to succeed.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Results showed that there were four distinct types of teams, on a scale from healthy debate to dysfunctional interpersonal discord. T</span><span class="s1">eams with high levels of task conflict and low levels of relationship and process conflict were the most successful. The researchers call this type of team - in which team members get along personally but are nonetheless able to disagree - the "ideal."</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">On the other hand, teams that had higher levels of relationship and process conflict were less successful. Moreover, the researchers found that the more interpersonal drama and quibbling over execution occurred in a specific team, the less likely that team was to engage in constructive debate.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">That's likely because members of these teams were afraid of starting an argument by expressing a different idea - even if sharing their distinct perspective could be helpful.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Dotshock/Shuttershock</span></p><p class="caption">Sharing different ideas and opinions is a beneficial form of conflict.</p></div><p></p></div></div>One major takeaway from this research is that conflict isn't inherently harmful to team dynamics. In fact, the ability to talk over different ideas is crucial to a team's success.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">"The whole point of having a team is to share different points of view and debate different ideas," O'Neill told Business Insider.</span></p><p class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><span class="s1">But when that conflict turns personal, or when team members disagree over the best way to complete assignments, performance can take a turn for the worse. And if this kind of personal discord is common at Amazon - The Times article noted that colleague feedback "can be blunt to the point of painful" - it could be problematic for the retailer.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The study authors suggest that managers assess levels of different types of conflict within their teams and provide feedback accordingly. Bringing a team's attention to its conflict styles may be the first step to getting it back on track toward success.</span></p><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/achieve-laser-focus-samurai-japan-2015-7">The secret strategy samurai use to achieve laser-focus</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I3aGxpcDpquFMqSU19uCNuEh_yVnJwNy" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A new study may pinpoint the biggest problem with Amazon's work culture

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Robotics researchers at MIT have unveiled a four-legged robot with an amazing new ability: "The Cheetah 2" can jump.</p>
<p>W<span>ith funding coming entirely from the <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">Defense</keyword> Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's advanced technological research arm, Cheetah 2 could be deployed towards one of the US military's emerging areas of focus: disaster response.</span></p>
<p>A video released by the MIT team shows their creation reaching ten miles an hour on an indoor track and clearing a low hurdle. They hope to eventually reach around 30 miles an hour, faster than Usain Bolt at top speed.<br><br>MIT News chalked up the advance to new software - the "bounding algorithm" determines how much force a leg should exert to kick off the ground. Cheetah 2 was taken for a spin on Killian Court, where MIT also hosts its commencement ceremonies.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Despite primarily being concerned with defense, DARPA makes considerable investments in technology that can be applied to disaster relief as well.</br></br></p>
<p>The agency has invested <a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=122672">$95 million</a> to run the DARPA Robotics challenge through June 2015; entrants have disaster response rather than combat-related applications. Gill Pratt, a project manager at DARPA, <a href="http://thebulletin.org/robot-rescue">wrote</a> that "humanitarian assistance and disaster relief is a primary mission of the Defense Department, and DARPA had responded to a disaster before, sending robots whose development it had funded to New York City in the days after the 9/11 attacks."</p>
<p>As the US military draws down its forces from Afghanistan and wraps up an over decade-long period of intensive combat operations, disaster response will likely become an increasingly central part of its activities. The military mobilized in support of relief efforts after the <a href="http://www.defense.gov/home/features/tsunami/">2004 southeast Asian tsunami</a>, the catastrophic <a href="http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR300/RR304/RAND_RR304.pdf">2010 earthquake in Haiti</a>, and the 2011 <a href="http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2011/0311_japan/">Japanese earthquake and tsunami</a>.</p>
<p>DARPA's <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Budget.aspx">budget estimates</a> for fiscal year 2015 says the program will help build the military's ability to respond against natural and industrial disasters, as well as acts of terrorism. It lists the Army, Marines, and Special Forces as anticipated users.</p>
<p>Some of the robots funded by DARPA could also serve as mechanical pack animals. The Google-acquired robotics firm Boston Dynamics is behind the LS3 - a much bigger load-bearing robot without the Cheetah's jumping capabilities. You can see the LS3 in action <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJC9tbUpek" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p>It's also a lot noisier than MIT's Cheetah 2, which sounds a little bit like a busy stapler, thanks to a custom electric motor designed elsewhere at MIT.</p>
<p>Robots that actually prove useful in disaster scenarios may be years away; MIT researcher Sangbae Kim told <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/09/16/mits-cheetah-bot-could-hit-speeds-up-33-mph/">Fox News</a> he expects a robot like theirs could eventually join fire departments.</p>
<p>MIT is also developing a robot that moves on four legs but stands on two in order to be able manipulate its surroundings, <span>Kim told Business Insider</span>.</p>

MIT's Amazing DARPA-Funded Jumping Robot Shows How The US Military Is Pivoting To Disaster Relief

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>DARPA's made all types of robots, from "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BheIzCIPGXg" title="Big Dog">Big Dog</a>" to "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE3fmFTtP9g" title="Wild Cat">Wild Cat</a>," and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpOl_pEmRqs" title="DARPA soft robot">soft robots</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuD1WKHsggs" title="DARPA Humming Bird">flying robots</a>. Their latest creepy invention is a robotic "cheetah" that can run, bound, and jump obstacles in its path all while running on a quiet electric motor, giving the robot its stealthy cat-like quality.</p>
<p>The key to the robotic cheetah's stealth and agility is how hard its mechanical feet hit the ground, MIT researchers say in their <a href="http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/mit-cheetah-robot-runs-jumps-0915" title="MIT News Video">latest video</a>. The researchers working on the project, funded by DARPA, have developed an algorithm that enables them to control how much force the animal's feet exert when they contact the ground, which any sprinter can tell you relates to how fast you go down the track. The higher the force, the faster your speed.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">"<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHEETAH_ROBOT?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2014-12-01-08-42-37">This is kind of a Ferrari in the robotics world</a>, like, we have to put all the expensive components and make it really that instinctive. <span>That's the only way to get that speed,</span>" MIT professor Sangbae Kim told the Associated Press. Kim leads MIT's Biomimetic Robotics Lab, which designed the robot.</span></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>With better control of how hard the cheetah's feet hit the ground, researchers found that it could run and bound on rough terrain like grassy fields while maintain its speed and balance. Balance is also an important factor in clearing obstacles, which the robotic cheetah does without losing a beat.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>You may have noticed that DARPA's latest animal-inspired robot does not move as gracefully as a cheetah sprinting after its prey. That's because the engineers at MIT are still perfecting the robot's motion at high speeds. </p>
<p><span>"When the robot is running, at every step, we calculate the appropriate amount of the force to the legs so that the robot can balance itself," MIT research scientist Hae-Won Park, who wrote the complex algorithm used to control the cheetah, told AP.</span></p>
<p><span><span>Cheetahs gallop their prey down, but robo-cheetah is not there, yet. Instead, it</span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> bounds across fields. When an animal bounds, it lifts its back two feet off the ground right as its front two feet simultaneously make contact. This way, the animal always has two feet on the ground. See how the robotic cheetah bounds in this gif:</span></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>The next stage in speed is galloping, when the two front feet and back feet separate, hitting the ground at different times. During each gallop, all four feet leave the ground as the animal flies through the air, like the real cheetah in this gif:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Once the MIT researchers perfect the robotic cheetah's bounding capabilities, it should not be difficult for them to split the legs and gain more speed, according to Sangbae Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.</p>
<p>Right now, robotic cheetah can reach speeds up to 10 mph with its quiet electric motor, and researchers anticipate that it could top out at 30 mph. That's faster than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usain_Bolt" title="Usain Bolt">Usain Bolt</a>'s record sprint in 2009, he ran the 100 meter dash in 9.69 seconds, corresponding to a speed of 23 mph.</p>
<p>Check out the full video, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMKQbqnXXhQ">uploaded by MIT to YouTube</a>:</p>
<p></p>
<p>Check out more awesome animal robots at DARPA's <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/DSO/Programs/Maximum_Mobility_and_Manipulation_(M3).aspx" title="DARPA M3">Maximum Mobility and Manipulation Program</a> (M3) and <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2011/11/24.aspx" title="darpa nav">Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) Program</a> sites.</p>
<p><em>Harrison Jacobs contributed to this report.</em></p>

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